


Communion

by neutralize



Category: Skullgirls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, Online Dating, Slice of Life, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 23:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1706267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neutralize/pseuds/neutralize
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Minette lowers her cup slowly, giving her date a look between confused and cautious. “Are you feeling all right, Feng?”</p>
  <p>"I have to use the bathroom, excuse me," Feng lies, and she tries not to walk too quickly to the bathroom. To her relief, there’s a window in the hallway.</p>
  <p>Her mouth is dry, too dry; Feng thinks of the water on the table and how it will remain untouched.</p>
</blockquote><br/>Feng tries to move on from unrequited feelings, only to find it's not as easy as she thinks it is.
            </blockquote>





	Communion

**Author's Note:**

> Request from an anon on Tumblr, with the prompt being, _"what about minette and feng commiserating on both having crushes on straight girls"_. (Original [here](http://neutralizing.tumblr.com/post/82967621096/what-about-minette-and-feng-commiserating-on-both).)

Feng arrives at the restaurant five minutes early, and she can’t help but to feel she’s made a huge mistake. She eyes her phone warily, debating on cancelling the date all together, but she quickly brushes the thought aside; that is not her intention today. The hostess seats her at a worn booth with a window view of the street and Feng settles in the corner, watching.

Two minutes after the date was supposed to start, she sees her, and her heart skips a beat: somehow she’s even cuter than the pictures she’s posted online, with bright clear eyes, dressed in burgundy leggings and a cream sweater that slouches off her shoulders. She slips inside the restaurant, eyes full of questioning; when Feng flags her down, her face lights up like sun.

”Hi, hi, hi!” Minette half whispers, looking giddy at the sight of Feng. “Ah, you’re so cute! I’m so glad I finally get to meet you!” She slides into the opposite side of the booth. “So work finally cut you a break, huh?”

"Yeah," Feng begins hesitantly, "they did. Just been really busy." She hopes Minette doesn’t read into people well, because it’s a lie; she was never busy, but too anxious to commit to a date, convinced meeting up with a girl she met off a dating site was closer to an act of treason, than a normal part of moving on.

"Oh, it’s cool!" Minette chirps. Feng tries not to let her relief be too obvious. "We’re still pretty understaffed at my job, I have no idea why Yu Wan won’t hire more people."

Feng gives her a weak chuckle. Their waitress takes their drink orders: Sprite for Minette, water for Feng. Minette fills the air chattering about her week, and Feng tries to listen, she really does, but finds herself increasingly distracted by little things about her companion. The slight snag in her teeth. The way she constantly plays with her hair. How she tilts her head just so when Feng offers a response. Everything Minette is not, and  _she_  is.

The waitress comes round with their drinks and when Feng makes eye contact with her, the waitress gives her a knowing smile. Feng reciprocates with a watery smile, but her lungs feel like they're being squeezed by an imaginary vice.

"I wish we had Sprite at Little Innsmouth," Minette says forlornly. "Yu Wan can be such a cheapass." She takes a huge gulp of her drink, and Feng stares.

Minette lowers her cup slowly, giving her date a look between confused and cautious. “Are you feeling all right, Feng?”

"I have to use the bathroom, excuse me," Feng lies, and she tries not to walk too quickly to the bathroom. To her relief, there’s a window in the hallway.

Her mouth is dry, too dry; Feng thinks of the water on the table and how it will remain untouched.

\--

At first Feng doesn't dare visit the dating site she found Minette through, but when her resolve crumbles and she logs on, she’s not sure whether to be terrified or relieved there isn’t a message waiting in her inbox.

She pulls up the most recent message: from Minette, just as she was about to leave. Mustering up as much inner strength as possible, she clicks on it, even more surprised to find she isn’t blocked, and starts to type:

`I completely understand if you don't ever want to talk to me again, because I honestly deserve it. But I want to apologize for standing you up last night, as well as being really wishy-washy about actually setting things up. The truth is, I signed up on this site because there's someone I want to get over, and I thought I was ready to do that, but I guess I'm not. I think you're extremely nice but I'm not looking for a relationship. Again, I'm really sorry. It wasn't right of me to do that to you and you didn't deserve it. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings too much.`

When Feng finishes, she rereads her reply over and over again, until she can practically recite it backwards; she isn’t satisfied with it, not by a long shot, but there isn’t anything else she feels she can say, so she sends it before she has a chance to change her mind. The tight knot in her stomach loosens, but only slightly.

She isn’t, however, prepared to see her notifications light up. Minette’s response is short, but to the point: `meet me in new meridian if u can.`

Feng is out of breath from running when she arrives at New Meridian. Minette is easy to find, sitting on a bench across the restaurant they were in the previous night. She’s all smiles when she sees Feng. Suddenly Feng wishes she hadn’t acted on impulse.

"H - hey," is all Feng can mumble out. She guesses she looks as ridiculous as she feels. But if Minette notices, she doesn't show it in tranquil expression. She scoots over on the bench, motioning Feng to sit down. Feng plunks down, and lets out a long sigh.

"I’m so sorry," Feng whispers. "I really didn’t mean - "

She stops mid sentence, when Minette takes her hand. “It’s okay,” Feng hears her say, “I understand where you're coming from.”

Feng looks up at Minette, whose eyes are wet and spilling over. The calm is still on her face, but Feng sees something else, and realizes with painful acuity exactly what is causing it.

"It hurts, doesn’t it?"

When Feng finally cracks and begins to sob, Minette squeezes her hand harder.


End file.
